What does it mean for travelers that Breeze Airways now has a 'base' at TF Green?

Breeze Airways Wednesday officially opened a "base" at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport – gold scissors, ribbon and all – but what does that mean for travelers?

As of Thursday, the budget airline will fly from Green directly to six cities, eight if you count flights that continue on after one stop without having to change planes.

By May 18, Breeze plans to add five more routes, including Providence to Los Angeles International Airport.

And by July 14 the airline will add three more flights to get to 16 total.

Some of those flights are seasonal – including Los Angeles – and disappear again in the fall.

But by making Green a "base," with jets, pilots, maintenance workers, flight attendants and ground staff based in Providence, Breeze officials say over the next five years they plan to continue adding routes until they get to at least 20.

"We have doubled in size each year," Michael Wuerger, Breeze's chief operations officer, said at a ribbon-cutting news conference at the airport Wednesday. "By summer of last year we went from three to six nonstops. This summer Breeze is offering 13 nonstops from PVD and BreezeThru one-stop to three more."

Aside from the flights themselves, Breeze just began work building 3,000 square feet of operations space on the ground floor of the terminal and 7,000 square feet of warehouse space, both of which are expected to be finished in July.

Wuerger said Breeze now employs around 95 people at Green, but that is expected to grow to 250 people in the years ahead.

"We have committed to Rhode Island for at least the next 12 years," he said.

What is Breeze getting from the state?

To get Breeze to land in Rhode Island the state granted the airline a package of incentives and reimbursements.

The largest piece is $1.2 million per year over five years (total $6 million) from the state's Air Service Development Fund to market the airline. The airline is also eligible for up to $2 million from the same fund over three years for "ground handling."

$2.3 million per year from the state's Air Service Development Fund, about half of which pays for marketing Breeze destinations and half for ground operations for the airline.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation last fall also approved roughly $300,000 per year in tax credits under the state's Qualified Jobs program. If Breeze hits employment targets in the deal it would receive around $2.9 million in tax credits through 2034, according to a Commerce analysis.